Clutch



A. H. CLARKi CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5, 1920.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. H- CLARK.

CLUTCH. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5, I920. 11,424,987,- Patented Aug. 8, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 7mm ii cwwe m:

izsioiivii' that K, HAWKINS a subject of 3 E 2, reeiciiny uni' e; Surrey, Emgiwci have ii 05E! new and uee-fui Timpre've meiating' t Clutches 0?: which e a specification.

3 1 entwn reiaies to ciueehee 3.3.181 en.- ililai? is we say, an apparatus itencied isbe tmiismittedi em a rebate bedy the shaft on "112153.; 0: mm the "50 die body, oeeesienai 0213916521011 re-conneeiien are re fiy wheei or pulley wiii mitocause said fly Wheei 0i pulley ativeiy conneeieci to 3116 on 5731 1921 ii, runs, and in which when see-Mammy fiiseePnect-ion can be efieeied by :1. slight rac'vement #31 an auxiliary ciuteh mew A. farmer object oi"? the invention is previde clutch mech iiism .siforeesaici in which rotalion the creek shaft 0f an eombusiien engizee can be started by IT as pewer eccumulefiecfi in ti e fly w by the eperzition of the said euxiiiei'y clutch mam! before epemtive connection the sa d fly wheei and crank shefi: been esiabiished; whilst wearing that wheel and crank she'fi; remain se- W en-niaeeted so ioiig the engine is ..,'w v ..,n e Wlii 11W" be cieeeimeci wme wish .ieiei'ence me accompany- Q in whici12-- e1 represents in veirzicai sect-ion ap embeaying invention and suit-- able as gee: for internal eambueiaien 1e empieyel iii an autemeisiie veh cie, the 11, Wheel being shown in eke positio'n in whisk is; discenzjieezed from the 2x modified .1erm

sen be ,eesiiy ciiscennected eufiieieni; momentum has been imparted Patented 13mg" e, 1952i? Eerie; 1

wheel being shown in the :peeitieii in which 5 connected $50 the sheik? JLhe i'eierence letter A indicates the crank shaft of M1 internal eemnus aien engine, on which shaft is a, cened surface B, and a disc 0? frietien eiufcch member S is secured t0 ishe shafls, whilsta wheel if) is, in the pesiiaien shown in Figure 1, faee m0 reveive en'the said sheffs 01-? 0 axially inereon. A sleeve E is else "ireeiy x'etatabie and exiaiiy movable 0n fihe shaft A, this sleeve be ingimei'nz-iiiy eoned. at ene end as shown at e grovided heiieai *eeeih e 22%; file either end and with mesh e 4; teeth a on its periphery, The bees d bf ihe Wheel 7 is else prevideci with eeri'espoiiding he cal week at 03 so thait when the sieeve is dyiven in the di ection in which fihe shaft A is ze be minted by the engine, the fly Wheei is also driven, bath the sleeve and Wheel revolving freely between the fixed ifrieeienel or eiufieh members 3 and C, WhiiS 3,,sp1ing tends to keep the fly 'Wheei D clear (if the member 0. The exension this spying is, iiowevei, 110i sufiiciemt to permii of ies pressii g the seminal tapered end a of *he sleeve 1* ageieet ehe ceiee mi fihe shaft A. The siee've E can be (iriveri by hand or 00$ pewei" 01" by a memrg in the example shown in Figure 3 a bev'ei whee G is mounted in suitable beerimg 031 she eteeririg Ailey H mid is mm 'iaiiie b 1 means 01* a; spanked Emmi J wheel I engegingebevei pinien K 021 a, fieziibie ehetfi; L at the other end 01 which sinit ie as yrocket Wheel M. The L eiehei' be curved as shown er may be made ezi? sireight porxbiens cenneeteci by e um; veisai erjeinte. spreeieet wheel N can. zevai've freely 021 she sleeve end can :irivem by 51, chain 5L she Wheel Iboss 01 5 this Wheel carries e pawi e"- miepteci tn eegege Ti-1e she; met

on. the sieeve, and lihereby cause ehe s reveive upen m shaft A in the direction in which fihe engine 18.

in starting the engine the fly wneei D is z'epidiy revolved by means of the gear demiwi 11 i'atchei; When scribed acting through the 1'1" 116551 we supply of power to i,

aiiscon simled whereupon the sul.-ii;ie 0f file fly whee compared imi; m? the senses the teeth {5? mm @363 teeth thus fercing the fly 'ing the supply of power to the sleeve E,

wheel and the sleeve apart. The coned end e of the sleeveis thus brought into contact with the cone 'B on the shaft A, and the ;with the said shaft.

sleeve E is therefore frictionally connected At the same time the fly wheel moves along the shaft, compressing the spring F, and the coned portion of the fly wheel is brought into frictional contact with the coned portion 0 of the disc by a screwing motion due to the form of the helical teeth e, d, thus operatively connect 1' ing the fly wheel with the discand the shaft A. The connection thus established between the fly wheel and the shaft causesthe to turn through sleeve E to disconnection of the fly wheel while the engine mine. I

The fly wheel D can be released when it is next required to start the engine by renewwhich may be accomplished by the action of the hand gear shown in Figure 3, the said sleeve being thus revolved against the frictional resistance causedby the pressure between the conedaparts B and 6 To facilitate this action only one or two ratchet teeth e are provided, so that some momentum may be given to the wheel N by turning it through half a, revolution before the'pawl 12, engages one of the said ratchet teeth thus causing sufficient shock on engagement to release the cone'e from the cone B as the helical teeth e cl enter fully into mesh while the spring F presses the fly wheel against the sleeve, and on the supply of owerto the sleeve being again discontinued the fly wheel-is reconnected.

If immediate re-eonnection is not required, the renewed rotation of the sleeve E should only proceed to the extent necessary to bring the helical teeth fully into mesh.

As shown in Figure 4 the fly wheel D may be provided with a bushel on which the helical teeth d are formed; the wheel N may run on ball bearings n, and the pawl a may be pressed against the ratchet teeth a by a spring W, the ..pressure of which spring may be adjusted by means of a screw plug 11 The disc C may form part of the main clutch of the vehicle, or the fly wheel may be extended as shown in dotted lines at d,in Figure 4: for this purpose, the'shape j of the extension being designed to suit the at vehicle clutch which is to be employed.

its cycle and commence- For locking the fly wheel to the disc (I when frictionally engaged, a stiff sprin or pawl It may be provided on-the fly w eel as shown in igure 1, engaging a circular rack S on the disc, or the rack may be on the fly wheel at s as shown in Figure 4, and

six or other nuniber of pawls 1* may be spaced out around the periphery -of the disc'C.

In the case of a pulley which is. to be operatively connected to a shaft, such pulley being arranged in the same manner as above described with reference to the fly wheel D, it is obvious that when a movement of rota- \tion is by any means imparted to such pulley in a forward direction whilst the sleeve E is at rest, the helical teeth d over-running the teeth e? will bring about the required,

connection and the following rotary movement of the sleeve E will bring about disconnection when so required.

The clutch mechanism may be variedand the position of the mechanism in relation to the engine may be altered without departing from the nature of this invention.

What I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is 1. In a clutch for operatively connecting and disconnecting a rotary body with a shafton which -'it rotates, the combination of a shaft, a rotary body thereon, 'two fixed clutch members on the said shaft, the rotary body being axially movable between the said clutch members and adapted to engage with one of them, a rotary sleeve having cam surfaces adapted to engage counter cam surfaces on tlie rotary body and a coned surface adapted to engage the other fixed clutch member, and means for imparting rotary movement to the said sleeve.

2. In a clutch for operatively connecting and disconnecting a rotary body with a shaft I on which it rotates, the combination of a shaft, a rotary body thereon, two fixed clutch members on the said shaft, the'rotary body being axially movable'between the said clutch members and adapted to engage with one of them, a rotary sleeve having cam surfaces adapted to engage counter cam surfaces on the rotary body and a coned sur-' face] adapted to engage the other fixed clutch member, automatic means for pressin the said rotary body towards the said-"seev e and means for imparting rotary movement to the said sleeve.

3. In a clutch for operatively connecting and disconnecting a rotary ,body with a shaft onwhich it rotates, the combination of a' shaft,- a, rotary bod -thereon,"a fixed clutch member on the sai shaft, engageable with the said rotary body, an auxiliary clutch. engaging said rotary body, 'means for imparting rotation to the said auxiliary clutch androtary body in unison, interacti, means between the sad auxiliary clutchjan rotary 1 ,aeaeav body for disconnecting them and'engaging said auxiiiaryclutch with said shaft, and automatic means for re-connecting said auxiliary clutch and rotary body.

4. In a ciutch for operatively connecting and disconnecting a rotary body with a shaft on which it rotates, the combination of a shaft, a rotary body thereon, a disc secured on the said shaft, frictional engaging surfaces on the said disc and on the said rotary body, rack and pawl locking devices adapted to engage each other and located one on the said disc and the other on the said rotary body,an auxiliary clutch engagsaid rotary body, means for imparting rotation to the said auxiliary clutch and rotary body in unison, interacting means between the said auxiliary clutch and rotary body for disconnecting them and engaging said auxiliaryiclutch with said shaft and automatic means for re-connectmg said auxiliary clutch and rotary body, I 5. ciutch for operatively connecting mechanism to rotate the said sleeve.

6, In a clutchfor operatively connecting and disconnecting a rotary body with a shatton which it rotates, the combination-f a shaft, a rotary body thereon, a clutch member secured on the said shaft and engageable with the said rotary body, a sleeve rotatable and axially movable on the said shaft, helical engaging surfaces on the said sieeve and the said rotary body, conical ensurfaces on the said sleeve and the which it rotates, the combination of" said shaft, 2. spring tending to force the r0 tary body away from the said clutch member, and toward the said sleeve, a rack on the said sleeve, a wheel rotatable on the said sleeve and carrying a pawl adapted to engage said rack, and driving mechanism to rotate said wheel.

7. In a clutch for operatively connecting and disconnecting a rotary body with a shaft on which it rotates, the combination of a shaft, a rotary body thereon, a clutch member secured to said shaft, an auxiliary clutch member rotatable and axially mov-, able on said shaft, helical engaging surfaces permanently in contact between the said body and auxiliary clutch member, and intermittent driving mechanism for said auxiliary clutch member.

8. In a clutch for operatively connecting and disconnecting a rotary body with a shaft on which it rotates, the combination of a shaft, a rotary body thereon, a clutch member secured to said shaft, a sleeve having teeth engaging teeth on said body and adapted to transmit to said body rotary motion when fully meshed and axial motion when partly meshed, intermittent driving mechanism for the said sleeve, and automatic means for disconnecting said body, said automatic means being adapted to act when said intermittent driving mechanism is actuated. Y

9. In a clutch for operatively connecting and disconnecting a rotary body with a shaft on which it rotates, the combination I of a shaft, a rotary body thereon, auxiliary mechanism for temporarily rotating said body, mechanical means for disconnecting ALBERT HAWKINS CLARK. 

